Power miter saws are typically used for sawing material, for example, construction lumber. The miter saws include a base or platform on which a turntable is positioned. The turntable is used to support a work piece thereon. A support assembly of the miter saw is connected to the turntable and functions to support a cutting assembly that is operable to perform a cutting operation on the work piece. The support assembly includes functionality that enables the cutting assembly to move upward and away from the turntable and downward toward the turntable in order to produce a cut. The support assembly also typically includes functionality to enable the cutting assembly to pivot in relation to the turntable in order to produce angled cuts. An example of such a miter saw is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,338 issued to Svetlik et al.
The cutting assembly of the miter saw is relatively heavy because it includes a motor, a cutting blade, a blade guard, and other structural Components such as those components used to maintain a precise path for the cutting blade. When the support assembly is pivoted to change the angle of the cut of the cutting assembly, the user must temporarily disengage a lock that prevents pivoting of the support assembly relative to the table. Once the lock is disengaged, the user pivots the support assembly and related cutting assembly to a desired cut angle and then reengages the lock to prevent further pivoting of the support assembly. This action of unlocking and re-locking the pivotable support assembly requires the release and engagement of relatively high forces that may be difficult for the user to manage. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a support assembly arrangement that makes pivoting of the support assembly and related cutting assembly easier for the user, including easier disengagement and reengagement of a pivot lock.
Many miter saws include a positive stop arrangement that prevents the support assembly and related cutting assembly from pivoting past a desired bevel position. These positive stop arrangements typically include a two-position toggle capable of stopping the support assembly at an angle commonly used for compound-angle cuts when cutting trim. The arrangement typically includes separate override arrangements which allow the support arrangement to pivot past the most common start and end positions in the event that extra angular capacity is needed. Because these positive stop arrangements include multiple components in multiple positions, it would be advantageous to simplify the positive stop arrangement into a single control, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing and simplifying operation of the positive stop arrangement for the user of the miter saw.
It is desirable for miter saw designers to construct a miter saw as compact as possible. To this end, designers of miter saws attempt to make the width of the miter saw, measured side to side, as small as possible. This provides for ease of transport and storage, and reduces space utilized at a work site. However, users of miter saws often require a relatively wide support surface that will hold work pieces to be cut with the miter saw. Accordingly, some miter saws have been provided in the past with extendable work surfaces. However, many of these extendable work surfaces remain undesirably large for packaging, transport and storage. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a work support surface for a miter saw that is moveable between a retracted position that is relatively compact and an extended position that is relatively wide.
Moreover, dust collection in certain miter saws is difficult because the bevel lock and bevel post structure occupy much of the space in the path that particles naturally follow after exiting the cut. Consequently, exiting particles must either be diverted around the bevel post or the bevel post must be modified to allow particles to be routed through it, thus increases the complexity and cost of manufacturing the bevel post. Additionally, in common designs where the dust collection device is mounted to the cutting arm assembly upper arm guard, the exit port is forced to move with the cutting arm assembly during the cutting operation. This may cause the dust collection bag to tilt and spill. Further, in this type of dust collection system, the dust chute's height must be limited so that when it rotates when the cutting arm assembly upper arm guard is moved, it will not impact the cutting piece or support fence. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved dust collection system that overcomes the problems with current dust collection systems.
In addition to the foregoing, many miter saw arrangements include a laser alignment device. However, it is often difficult for the designer of the saw to find a location on the saw to mount an alignment system where the laser beam is directed to a desired location without physical obstruction during operation of the saw. Furthermore, certain mounting locations on the saw will cause the laser beam to shift out of an intended cutting line when the blade of the saw is not in a cutting position. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with a laser alignment guide that is mounted in a position that will not result in obstruction of the laser beam or movement of the laser beam out of the cut line. It would also be advantageous if such laser alignment arrangement could be easily adjusted to properly align the laser along the desired cut line. It would also be advantageous if the laser alignment arrangement could be easily and conveniently mounted and adjusted using an inexpensive mounting and adjustment system.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved bevel lock. It would also be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved positive stop arrangement. Additionally, it would also be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved extension support arrangement. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved dust collection system. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved laser alignment system. While it would be desirable to provide a miter saw that provides one or more of these or other features, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned advantages or include one or more of the above-mentioned features.